"Do not, I beg you, be troubled by forces already dissolved. You have mistaken the hour of the night. It is already morning." (Hilaire Belloc)

Sunday, April 2, 2017

The Oligarch Murders

It is interesting to examine the case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the instant billionaire.

News that the Russian authorities are pressing murder charges against the former Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky provokes many thoughts.

Rumours that Khodorkovsky employed hitmen to dispose of his enemies have circulated for many years.

There is no doubt some of Khodorkovsky’s enemies did meet untimely deaths. A particularly notorious case is the one of Vladimir Petukhov, the mayor of Nefteyugansk, who was killed in 1998 after publicly insisting that Khodorkovsky's oil company Yukos pay its taxes.

It seems that the case the Russian authorities are now attempting to bring against Khodorkovsky may relate to this case.

Though the rumours that Petukhnov was killed on Khodorkovsky’s orders have always been there, they have never resulted in a prosecution of Khodorkovsky because no witnesses have ever come forward to confirm them.